* * * * *
                                        
                                Reindeer Mark II
                                        
When Bunny's brother saw my attempt at a 3-D reindeer [1], he noticed that
the wood grain was running perpendicular to the neck:

[Direction of the woodgrain; perpendicular to the neck] [2] 

and given that the neck might have been a bit thin, it's no wonder the neck
snapped like it did (I think his exact words were “I need to give him a
lesson on woodgrain direction!”).

So, that, the small size, and removing pieces as I cut, lead to a decapitated
3-D reindeer. But now that I'm finally on vacation from The Corporation, I
felt it was time to tackle this project once more.

I printed the pattern 50% larger, left myself a bit more wood around the
edges to work with, aligned the woodgrain so that it was parallel to the
neck:

[Direction of the woodgrain; parallel to the neck] [3] 

and I did not immediately remove pieces as I cut. This time, the results were
much better:

[Leg's okay, neck's good---looks like we don't have to shoot him] [4]
 

Some careful sanding with fine sandpaper (220 grit) and we get one nice
looking 3-D reindeer in time for Christmas.

[Unlike his sleighmate Rudolph, Blitzen isn't a lush] [5]
 [6] 

(I should note that it's standing in front of a cutting board Bunny made as a
gift for a friend, and both are sitting on some red velvet, just because).

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2014/12/07.1
[2] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2014/12/22/necksnap.png
[3] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2014/12/22/neckkeep.png
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2014/12/22/good-reindeer.jpg
[5] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2014/12/22/thumb-sanded-reindeer.jpg
[6] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2014/12/22/sanded-reindeer.jpg

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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